Concrete block handling device



y 1953 H. SCHLOUGH ETAL 2,646,180

CONCRETE BLOCK HANDLING DEVICE Y Filed Nov. 10, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventors Leon H. Sch/00gb f5-g:::::::=:::: :r:;% I Wesley E. Sch/00gb y 1, 1953 L. H. SCHLOUGH ETAL 2,646, 80

CONCRETE BLOCK HANDLING DEVICE Filed Nov. 10, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inrentars Lean H. Sch/00gb Wesley E. Sch/00gb Patented July 21, 1953 a n 2,646,180 r CONCRETE B ooK HANDLING DEVICE Leon H. Schlough, Waite Park, and Wesley E.

- Schlough, St. Cloud, Minn., assignors to Northwest Concrete" Products 00., St. Cloud, Minn., acorporation of Minnesota Application November 10, 1949-, Serial No. 126 558 This invention appertainsnto material handling apparatus, and more particularly relate'sto an apparatus for handling heavy articles in the 1 loading and unloading of trucks and semitrailers.

A primary object'of the instant invention isto reduce the time required for loading and'unloading heavy articles on trucks and to simplify the loading operation. r 1 j Another important object of the invention is-to provide'a'material handling device that can be easily installed on any type of truck or similar vehicle and that will permit a truck,- so equipped, to be used forother general purposes. 1

Another important object of this invention is to provide a portable lifting and loading apparatus that, when mounted on a vehicle; will not add materially to the weight of the Vehicle and will'not encumber the movement ofthe vehicle nor destroy the general utility of the vehicle.

Another object'of this invention is to provide a material handling apparatus, that is especially adapted for loading and unloading concrete blocks or similar devices on a truck, the stated loading and unloading operation being capable 4 Claims. (01. 214-75) trally between the opposing side edges of the bed.

end of the bed and preferably is disposed'cen- Rigidifying or brace bars 18 are bolted at their lower ends on the bed and are secured at their upper ends to thepost. A-n axial bore or opening 28 i formed in the upper end of the post and a socket member 22 is seated in the inner end of the'bore. Ball bearing units 24 and 25 are disposed within the bore, the units being verti-. ,cally spaced by a sleeve 28.

An elongated rail member 39 is provided and I tracks 32 and 34 are formed on the rail memberl Means is provided for rotatably mounting the rail member on the support I6, so that the rail member swingably overlies -the bed and is disposed in a horizontal plane. The means preferably includes a lateral head 35 formed on one end of the rail member, the head having a flat outer face 38 fromwhich centrally projects an of being carried out by one operator v rithout any I physicaljhazards being present and without damage to the materials being handled.

These and ancillary-objects and structural features of merit are attained by this invention, the preferred embodiment of which is set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a truck, having a material handling apparatus of the present invention operatively mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of the rail member, with the hoisting means being shown in elevation, and the carriage meansbeingshown in rear elevation; Y

Figure 4 is a side elevational viewof another form of hoisting cradle;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the means for locking the rail member to the bed and I Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional View of anchoring shaft or spindle 4B. The spindle 39 is rotatably mounted in the ball bearing units, so that the outer end thereof is seated inthe socket member 22, with the outerface of the head seated on the upper ball bearing unit.

A carriage 4.2 is'mounted for movement on the,

rail member and include a U-shaped support Mi having. upwardly extending and outwardly inclined apertured legs 46 and 48'. Flanged wheels 50 are mountedv'on stub axles 52' carried by the legs 46 and, so that the rail engaging portions of the wheels are rotatably seated on the tracks 32 and 34, the wheels being disposed inangular Hoisting means 64 is swivelly the means for rotatably mounting the rail mem-' 7 her on the vertical support. I

In the accompanying drawings, a portable support I0 is illustrated, the same constituting the rear load carrying portion-of a truck or a semi-trailer and consisting o'f-a chassis l-2 mounted on wheels I5 and supporting a'bed or platform 14. A post I6 is vertically mounted on one relation, whereby displacement of the carriage from the track is prevented.

Rigidifying means 55 is provided for'the rail member and includes a vertical bar 55 which is mounted on the top of the rail member, substantially in the center'thereof Brace rods 58 and ti are connected at their opposing ends on the rail memberand bar 56, anladjustable turnbuckle 52 being-:operatively associated with the brace or truss rod 60. i 3

suspended from and carried by the carriage and includes an electrica-lly operated hoist 56 having a lug 63, which is formed 'integralwith the casing, projecting upwardly therefrom and'formed with an enlarged head Iii. The lug is rotatablyfjournaled on the web of the carriage, and the-head i6 is seated on the inner. surface thereof. A load cradle 72 is provided and includes a vertically disposed bar it,

7 on the upper ends of which is afiixed a bracket member 16 within-which are rotatably journaled pulleys 18. The hoisting cable is trained around the pulleys '18 from the hoist. A bar 82 is transversely positioned on the bar I4, adja cent, the lower end thereof, and a control or switch box 84 is mounted on the bar, conductors 86 extending from the box to the electric hoist, whereby the hoist can be remotely controlled through the switch box 84. A bar 88 is formed transversely on the lower end of the bar I4 and is provided with laterally extending, parallel end sections or members 9i With respect to Figure 4, it is to be noted that.

a lifting fork attachment 92 is provided, the same being interchangeable with the lifting cradle I2 and including a vertical bar 94 upon which the switch or control box 84 is mounted, a support 95 extending laterally from the upper end and having a pulley 88 rotatably journaled ears IM. A fork I 92 projects outwardly from the of the truck or vehicle, the jack maintaining the lower end of the bar 94 in parallelism with the support 36 and is adapted. to support a plurality of heavy articles, whereby the same may be raised through the hoist and cable 89 operatively entrained over the pulley 98.

With respect to the operation of the hoist, attention is directed to Figure 1, wherein it is to be noted that a supporting frame I04 is mounted on the frame and suspended below the frame. The housing I 84 supports a prime mover I06, such as a conventional air-cooled gasoline engine, having a driving shaft I58. A conventional single-phase generator H9 is mounted in the housing and a clutch H2 connects the driving shaft I98 of the motor with the shaft N4 of the generator. Electrical conductors extend from the generator through the flexible cable M3 to a bracket H5 mounted on the inner end of the rail member. An electrical wire H6 is connected thereto and insulated from the rail member by an insulating block I53. A similar insulating block I253 supports the opposing end of the wire, the block being mounted on an angle member I22 affxed to the outer or free end of the rail member. Thus, the electrical wire IIIS extends parallel with and above the'rail member and is supported thereby. A contact arm I24 is bifurcated at its upper end and a roller I26 is rotatably journaled therein, the roller being in contact with the wire. The arm I24 is secured to the leg 46 of the carriage and the electrical current for the electric hoist is transferred thereby from the line III to the hoist.

Means is provided for supporting and locking the rail member in an inoperative position, preferably extending centrally above the bed. I4. In this respect, a supporting frame I28 is provided and includes a pair of side bars I3ii and I 32 having inner converging upper ends between which is transversely positioned a bar I34 having a vertical opening I36 formed therein. A cross-bar I38 is connected to the side bars and the lower ends thereof are formed with lateral lugs I40 adapted to be received within openings formed in the end cross member I42 of the chassis. A rod I44 is disposed through the opening I36 and is formed at its upper end with jaws I46 and I48. The jaws are commonly pivoted as at 58 to the upper end of the rod and are separately pivoted on transverse pivot pins I52 mounted in the opening I54 formed in the upper end of the bar I34. As seen in Figure 5, the jaws'are adapted to grip upon the tracks 32 and 35 on the rail member, when the rod is in a lowered position. The rod is raised and lowered by means of a bifurcated actuating and locking member I5'6 pivotally mounted on the cross-bar bed in a horizontal plane for unloading. The supporting frame I28 is then removed by raising the rod I44 to release the jaws from the boom or rail and the lower end of the supporting frame is detached from the vehicle chassis. The chain I58 is unlocked and the boom can then be swung about its journaled end. The cradle I2 is then attached to the articles, such as building blocks I'Iil, by lowering the hoisting cable 80, through the control box 84 and the hoist 66. The cradle is then secured to the blocks and the cradle is raised by the hoist, whereupon the carriage is moved on the rail member, as the rail member is being swung outwardly beyond the bed. The down button on the control box 3 is then pushed and the articles are lowered into a resting position. The reverse operation of the hoist raises the load cradle and lifting arms from the load.

Of course, it is to be realized that any type of heavy articles may be loaded and unloaded on any type of vehicle merely by changing the type of cradle and lifting arms in order to meet the particular size and shape of the articles. Thus, since many other modifications andpurposes of this invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the foregoing description, it is to be understood that certain changes in style, size and components may be effected without a departure from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. A material-handling apparatus for loading and unloading heavy articles comprising a platform, a vertical support extending from the platform, a rail member rotatably mounted at one end on the support, said member swingably over lying the platform'and disposed parallel therewith, a carriage mounted on the rail member for movement thereon, electrically operated hoisting means swivelly suspended from the carriage, a motor for operating said hoisting means, an electrical conductor supported by the rail member, means carried by'the carriage and contact ing the conductor for supplying electrical energy to the hoisting means, means for locking the rail member on the platform, and means carried by said hoisting means operable to control the operation of said motor.

2. In a material-handling apparatus for loading and unloading heavy articles on a fiat bed. truck, a vertical support mounted on the bed adjacent one end, an elongated rail member swingably mounted on the support for swinging movement in a horizontal plane overlying the bed, a roller carriage mounted on the rail member, hoisting means, prime mover means for operat ing said hoisting means, means for swivelly suspending the hoisting means from the carriage, means for locking the rail member on the bed, and means for operating said prime mover re-' motely therefrom and at said hoisting means,

invention, what is said hoisting means including an electric'hoist, a load cradle operatively carried by the hoist,

an electrical conductor supported by the rail member and disposed parallel therewith and contact means carried b the carriage for transferring electrical current from the conducto a and through the carriage to thehoist.

3. In a material-handling apparatus for load ing and unloading heavy articles on a flat bed truck, a vertical support mounted on the bed adv jacent one end, an elongated rail member swingably mounted on the support for swinging movement in a horizontal plane overlyingv the-bed,

a roller carriage mounted on the rail member,

hoisting means, prime mover means for operating said hoisting means, means for swivelly suspending thev hoisting means from the carriage,

means for locking the rail member on the bed, and means for operating said prime mover remotely therefrom and at said hoisting means,

said means for swivelly suspending the hoisting means including a lug-extending. upwardly there: from, an enlarged head on the lug, said lug being disposed through a verticalopening in the bottom of the carriage, the head being disposed on the inner surface of the bottom. v

4. In a material-handling apparatus for loading and'unloading heavy articles on a flat bed truck, a vertical support mounted on the bed adjacent one end, an elongated rail member swingably mounted on the support for swinging move ment in a horizontal plane overlying the bed, a

' roller carriage mounted on' the rail member.

' motely therefrom and at said hoisting means, I

hoisting means,v prime mover means for operating said hoisting means, means for swivelly suspending the hoisting means from the carriage, means for locking the rail member on the bed,

and means for operating said prime mover resaid locking means including a supporting frame in spaced relation to said vertical support, said supporting frame including a bar for receiving a free end of said rail, releasable clamp means carried by said support frame for clamping said rail to said bar.

I LEON H. SCHLOUGI-I.

WESLEY E. SCI-ILOUGH.

References Cited in the 'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

